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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (May 17, 2017)
ATHLETES EARN 12 DISTRICT TRACK TITLES The – PAGE B1 Blue Mountain EAGLE Grant County’s newspaper since 1868 .com yWyllie /Lindse ars ight cle lee Wr y a ’s K y a r rid cto Prospe nt at F Union mp eve ju h ig Grant h in the . the bar eet in Union m t ic r t dis oto uted ph Contrib W EDNESDAY , M AY 17, 2017 C ONGRATS , D AYVILLE , L ONG C REEK , M ONUMENT AND P RAIRIE C ITY 2017 GRADUATES ! P AGE A7 • N O . 20 • 20 P AGES • $1.00 www.MyEagleNews.com Growing Scenic Bikeway tourism By Sean Hart Blue Mountain Eagle A LOT OF KIDS Mt. Vernon goat gives birth to fi ve Story and photos by Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle M One of 11 kids owned by Gregg and Betty Starr of Mt. Vernon. t. Vernon residents Gregg and Betty Starr are retired and have grown children, but they also have 11 “kids” at home — baby goats, that is. One of their adult female Boer goats, named Blondie, re- cently gave the Starrs a shock when she gave birth to fi ve kids, though one was stillborn. “She had them all by herself — one outside the barn, then she went in and had three more, plus a stillborn,” Betty said. Knowing goats usually have one to three kids per pregnancy, the Starrs were amazed Blondie had fi ve at once. Betty called John Day veterinarian Colleen Robertson to see what she thought. “She had heard of it, but had never seen it,” Betty said. Betty immediately named the four living kids using a “Star Wars” theme: Darth Vader, Yoda, Obi-Wan and Leia. Gregg said his wife names all the kids, usual- ly with biblical names, such as Ruth and Naomi, or after musicians, like Simon and Garfunkel. “I’m the goat herder. She’s the goat woman,” Gregg said. “Betty feeds them, and she’s the main one with bottle feeding.” He said they’ve been watching Blondie to make sure she’s feeding her kids properly. The Starrs started raising goats to help keep their pastures trimmed down. “We’ve had cows and horses, but they’re too big, and it hurts when they step on you,” Betty quipped. Their goat herd started with three females and one male in 2013, and now they have 29 in all, including Boer and Kiko breeds. They plan to trim the herd down by selling some this summer. When asked why they enjoy raising goats, Betty said “They’re sweeter than any other animal.” “They eat everything, and they have a personality that’s neat with them,” Gregg added. “To watch them jump and hop, they look like they’re little kids.” “They’re fun to watch,” Betty said. See BIKEWAY, Page A10 Mt. Vernon resident Gregg Starr with his goat Blondie and her kids. The goat gave birth to four live kids and one stillborn in late April. TOP IMAGE: Mama goat Blondie has four kids that stick close by, including Darth Vader, Yoda, Obi Wan and Leia. A National Park Service report shows that 210,111 visitors to John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in 2016 spent $9,995,400 in communities near the park. That spending supported 153 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative bene- fi t to the local economy of $11,801,900, according to a park service press release. “John Day Fossil Beds welcomes visitors from across the country and around the world,” Superin- tendent Shelley Hall said in the release. “We are delight- ed to share the story of this place and the experiences it provides. We also feature the park as a way to intro- duce our visitors to this part of the country and all that it offers.” Hall noted that John Day Fossil Beds saw record visitation in 2016 and very large numbers of visitors are expected in Eastern Or- egon to view the total solar eclipse in August of 2017. “National park tourism is a signifi cant driver in the national economy, return- ing more than $10 for every $1 invested in the National Park Service, and it’s a big factor in our local economy as well,” Hall said. “We ap- preciate the partnership and support of our neighbors See ECONOMY, Page A10 Bill would mandate testing for lead, other hazards in schools By Paris Achen Capital Bureau Betty Starr of Mt. Vernon holds one of her baby goats. Fossil Beds generate $10M in economic benefi ts Blue Mountain Eagle Grant County’s Scenic Bikeway brings tourists to the area, but is the county receiving as much econom- ic benefi t as possible? The Old West Scenic Bikeway — through John Day, Prairie City, Long Creek, Mon- ument, Kimberly, Dayville and Mt. Vernon — is up for its fi rst state re- view, where Scenic Christy Bikeways Commit- Rheu tee members will evaluate past successes, explore challenges and opportunities to im- prove and promote bikeways and discuss bringing greater economic benefi ts to the county. After the state review, from 11 a.m. to noon May 24 at the John Day Fire Hall on Canyon Boule- vard, Old West Scenic Bikeway Lead Christy Rheu Waldner will facilitate a local session from noon to 3:30 p.m. The local ses- sion is a bi-annual cycle tourism meeting that will include intro- ductions of new businesses, the Eastern Oregon Trail Alliance and the Chamber of Commerce’s new website, a discussion about a EO Media Group file photo A tourist sets up a shot of the Painted Hills, one unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, near Mitchell. A National Park Service report shows that 210,111 visitors to John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in 2016 spent $9,995,400 in communities near the park. Lawmakers have revived a bill that mandates testing for lead in water supplies and carbon dioxide monitors in public schools. The bill also provides a special $2.5 million fund to pay for the new obligations. Administrative rules approved last year by the Oregon Board of Education already require school districts to have a plan for testing for lead and other environmental hazards and notifying the public of any results, but lead testing itself is not mandated. The bill by Sen. Michael Dem- brow and Rep. Alyssa Keny-Guyer codifi es into law the existing re- quirements by the education board and adds the mandate to test for lead and install carbon dioxide monitors. The bill received a public hear- ing in the Senate Rules Committee Wednesday, May 10, after almost perishing in Senate Education because unfi nished amendments caused it to miss a deadline for passing bills out of committee. Only the Rules Committee can move late-breaking bills during the legislative session. The bill could return to the rules committee for a possible vote in the next two weeks, after some mi- nor amendments. The Oregon Health Authority See LEAD, Page A10
